Out and about in July

July seems to have been mainly about foxes and otters and moths but I did see a few other things, mainly insects. Dragonflies included four-spotted chasers,

 male emperors,

male black-tailed skimmers,

male broad-bodied chasers,

a male southern hawker,

a male ruddy darter,

and common darters.

I saw my first female and male emerald damselflies of the season.

In two different nature reserves within a mile from here I saw white-letter hairstreaks.  A slightly battered male in Weetslade Country Park,

and a female at Gosforth Nature Reserve.

I saw a lot of common lizards in Harwood Forest but most of them were too quick for me and even this one was shy.

July was very warm.  We had one very wet weekend so the average rainfall averaged out as average but it was mostly very dry.  Good for some things, like insects, but not for others, such as badgers and hedgehogs (and the garden).